Good afternoon, INSPY readers! Today our shortlist author interviews continue with Julianna Deering. Julianna is a second time shortlist nominee. This year her third Drew Farthering novel, Murder at the Mikado (Bethany House) is on the short list for the Mystery/Thriller category. Julianna shares about her love of movie soundtracks and shares some pictures that helped inspire her novel, Murder at the Mikado.

Goodreads Summary:

Just as Drew Farthering thinks his life has found smooth waters, Fleur Landis, an old flame, reappears in his life. She’s married now, no longer an actress, and he expects she’ll soon disappear–until she comes to him in dire need. The lead actor in her old troupe’s production of The Mikado has been murdered, and Fleur is the police’s number one suspect.

Drew would love nothing more than to just focus on his fiance, Madeline, and their upcoming wedding, but he can’t leave Fleur in the lurch–even if she did break his heart once. As Drew, Nick, and Madeline dive into the murder, they discover more going on behind the scenes of the theater troupe than could ever have been imagined. Nearly everyone had a motive, and alibis are few and far between. It’s Drew’s most complicated case yet.

1.) What are you listening to?

I tend to listen to movie soundtracks when I try to write, the more epic the better. Right now the music from “The Hobbit,” “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” seem to suit my mood. Of course, when I’m working on a historical novel, I try to play some of the music from that era, too. For my Drew Farthering mysteries, I like to listen to the music of the 1930s, especially the English bands, like Ray Noble’s.

A vintage poster from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado

2.) What are you watching?

I don’t actually have TV service right now. There’s really not anything on broadcast TV that interests me, and I’m generally too busy to just sit down and watch. I just Netflix what I want to see. Of course, the NHL playoffs are going on right now, and I never miss those games, so I go and watch at my dad’s house. That’s a lot of fun! I try to catch Masterpiece Theater and, especially, Masterpiece Mystery when I can.

3.) What are you reading or what’s on your nightstand?

An English theater from the 1930s

There’s sort of a hodgepodge of books on my nightstand. I have a Bible-reading schedule that lets me read through the whole thing every two years, so the Bible is always there. Besides that, I have The Most Eligible Bachelor novella collection, The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry, Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Stolen March by Dornford Yates, Heartless by A. E. Stengl, Poirot and Me by David Suchet and First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting by Christina Cameli. So many books, so little time!

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Thank you so much for joining us today, Julianna. It was a pleasure to host you here. Learn more about Julianna: Facebook ǀ Twitter ǀ Website

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